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STARBUCKS FAILING After Announcing They Will Hire 10,000 Muslim Refugees

Starbucks consumer perception levels have fallen by about two-thirds after the coffee shop announced that they plan to hire 10,000 muslim refugees, in a response to President Trump’s executive order.

In a response to Starbucks, the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks turned into a movement on social media. With this change in the public’s perception of the company, Starbucks may begin to suffer from loss of profits.

Yahoo Finance reports: “The perception tracker measures if respondents have ‘heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative.’ In Starbucks’ case, perception is still overall positive, but significantly lower than it was prior to CEO Howard Schultz published a public letter outlining the company’s plans to give refugees jobs.”

The coffee giant’s consumer perception levels have fallen by two-thirds since late January, according to YouGov BrandIndex.

The perception tracker measures if respondents have “heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative.” In Starbucks’ case, perception is still overall positive, but significantly lower than it was prior to CEO Howard Schultz published a public letter outlining the company’s plans to give refugees jobs.

“We are living in an unprecedented time, one in which we are witness to the conscience of our country, and the promise of the American Dream, being called into question,” CEO Howard Schultz wrote in a letter to Starbucks employees about the plan.

YouGov says that there’s reason to believe backlash will impact the chain’s bottom line. Two days before Starbucks’ announcement, 30% of consumers said they’d consider buying from Starbucks the next time they were craving coffee, the highest proportion in nearly a year. Now, the percentage is down to 24%, according to YouGov.

While many customers were immediately supportive of Starbucks’ actions to support refugees, others threatened to boycott.